Singapore Toy and Comic Convention

Miku
Look at her left hand :P

I dropped by the inaugural Singapore Toy and Comic Convention today to see the CosCon cosplay competition. As expected, the number of cosplayers who turned up was significantly smaller than those of dedicated cosplay events in Singapore, such as Cosfest and EOY.

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

I was planning to give this event a pass because I could tell that cosplay was going to be a really tiny afterthought, and the event itself was targeted more at general nerds and toy collectors, as opposed to hardcore otaku who have crossed the line of no return, devoid of souls and cash, loyal minions of the queen of the underworld.

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

You could tell that this was not my comfort zone by the high Star Wars presence in the hall, so strong it was that those attuned to the way of the Force could walk to Suntec City from City Hall station blindfolded, guided only by the scent of fellow Lucas worshippers.

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008
Long, long ago, George Lucas was in love

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008
Awesome cosplay by a really thin smurf

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008
The Guest of Honour, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

I loved Star Wars as much as the next geek, but it’s just not my cup of tea when it comes to life-destroying addictions. Considering the fact that anime and cosplay were probably not going to be a prominent part of the programme, it was my original intention to stay at home today.

Luckily, my common sense was temporarily overpowered by a series of coincidences that can only be described as Haruhi’s divine will, and, against my better judgement, I decided to show up at the convention hall with my Canon 400D, the premier lowest-tier DSLR for cheapskates who want to appear professional in the eyes of the ignorant regular folks with their child-size compacts.

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008
This photo was taken from a restricted area

I say luckily because despite being a general waste of my precious afternoon which I could have otherwise spent watching the original Macross (Lin Mingmei ^^), there was one cosplay which made it worth my effort. (I’ll leave you guessing which one…)

Alright, enough nonsense. On to the photos.

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008
It offends my sensibility that FFVII characters can fly with one wing

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008
The vibrating cat of doom!

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008

Okay fine it was the Hatsune Miku cosplayer. Surprisingly, she came in first place in the competition. I say surprisingly not because her cosplay wasn’t the best, but because the contest was determined by voting and I didn’t think Miku’s character would be popular enough (compared to Naruto and Crisis Core).

It’s quite cool cause the lights on her arm bands actually light up. Also, the Miku cosplayer told me that she reads my blog and actually discovered the wonders of Vocaloids on this very site. It brought a tear to my eye knowing that I helped to change the world for the better. Heh. (Wonder what she’ll be cosplaying as for Cosfest next week.)

Sadly, the organizers placed the cosplayers in the most poorly-lit corner of the entire hall, which, along with the fact that I had to depend on 400D’s internal flash, meant that I managed to produce some of the crappiest cosplay photos I’ve ever taken since my pre-DSLR days. I really ought to cough up 500 bucks for a Speedlite some day.

And on a closing note…

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008
Everyone’s favourite anime company

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39 Responses to Singapore Toy and Comic Convention

  1. double says:

    You should have taken a photo of the word “Passion” at the Odex booth too.

  2. Ez says:

    Hmm, I spot D-gray man, Vampire Knights, Bleach and FF. O_o

  3. ksg says:

    I see myself looking at the DDR booth in one of the photos. Why couldn’t I have turned around and looked at the mighty DM? どうして?…(btw i am the one with the blue shirt and fugly bag strap).

    I have a few “comments”. I say comments and not complaints because it is the first one here, ya they should have done a market survey yadda yadda. I know. I should just close one eye. Anyway, comments:

    1) Too many Gundams.
    2) Bandai screwed itself by not bringing Haruhi.
    3) Redemption queues were pathetic.
    4) The only traces i saw of SNS were an Odex Dvd. Was not worth burning.
    5) No traces of Garfield, Baby Blues, Foxtrot or Stone Soup. Comics my foot.
    6) The place reeked of Narutards.
    7) MaskedRiderHidekiWTF.

    KK. enough.

    But the Miku was nice. She should have done the leek dance though.

  4. AK says:

    Man, your coverage post sure came up early. Perhaps you didn’t notice, but I almost bumped into you back there to the right of the stage while you were photographing Miku. Saw you up there when you were taking the aerial shot; you sure ‘acted’ professional with that DSLR. You sure didn’t look happy to be there.

  5. Anon says:

    isn’t it ‘Lin Minmei’ (romaji) or “Lynn Minmay” (eng ver according to animenewsnetwork) instead of “Lin Meiling” o.O??

  6. SnooSnoo says:

    Looks like I won’t be attending this tomorrow.

  7. DarkMirage says:

    Anon:

    Indeed. Sorry I was distracted and typoed “ming”. It has been fixed.

    SnooSnoo:

    Today was the last day, so yeah. Also, is your name a Futurama reference?

  8. Steelkokoro says:

    It’s 鈴明美。<3<3<3
    The dark Totoro-like thing is cute.

  9. SnooSnoo says:

    Yeah, it is. Oh shit, I thought it was Saturday today. >__>

  10. Divine Fang says:

    Wow! Vampire Knight’s Yuuki and Zero! But I thought Zero is the one who supposed to hold the gun?

    Thanks for the great photos!

  11. Panther says:

    Your photos are still way better than mine. Nice that the Miku cosplayer actually first discovered Vocaloid through your blog. And lol @ Star Wars and Lucas references.

    Also, why Xedo? Most of us felt like burning the booth down.

  12. Zeroblade says:

    Too much mainstream, no hardcore otaku stuff indeed.

  13. C.I. says:

    Long-time lurker uncloaking here, DM.

    Met you along with Panther and Double today, a pleasure to finally meet you in the flesh. ^^

    Also, everyone is getting name cards now. lol.

  14. Looks like you had fun. Also, the Miku cosplayer looks kinda hot.

  15. dandid says:

    saw a few interesting cosplay guys gals.where do they get those red bright contact lenses!

  16. ryuko_hikaru says:

    Man I love the Odex booth, it is a pity Darth Vader didn’t summon his Imperial Dreadnought to blast it into shreds.

    I didn’t see xysing there. Did you?

  17. Fariz Asuka says:

    Those are very nice shots you’ve got there DM.. The bad thing thing about the cosplay photoshoot is that they located it beside the stage area which wasn’t brightly lit..

    Well, at least we get to experience something when we were at the convention.. ^^

  18. Keiichi says:

    Hrm…what cosplay is that right before the last Miku shot, it’s really bugging me :(

  19. JK says:

    I initially wanted to attend when I heard that there’s some sort of ‘Autography Session’ and hoped that there’ll be a Seiyuu appearance of sorts.

    Unfortunately there was none.

    To think I was hoping that Tamura Yukari would come so that I can get her Photobook signed~ :(

  20. Qad says:

    @ZeroBlade:

    It was supposed to be mainstream.

    Otakus totally ruined the general convention.

  21. SnooSnoo says:

    @Keiichi, its one of the Vampire Knight’s night class students. Not sure which one though.

  22. ComradeZero says:

    those gunpla modles look nice.

  23. Enigma says:

    gah… wish i could go… i hate exams… =(

  24. Sakurazaki says:

    I LOVE IT! Went for both days… Thnx For the Pictures… I did not have much time for Photo Taking… I Saw Suzumiya Haruhi Cosplay! So Happy! There were lots of D.Gray-man… Love them too… lolx… haha … Our “favourite” anime company hahahaaha

  25. Sakurazaki says:

    Eh? There’s another Cosplay Event nxt Wk? Where Wad Time I want go! Can Tell me when Juz Post it here I will chk back within this week

  26. Fate says:

    I was planning on going this for a very long time. But am sick. Just my luck.

  27. Upcom says:

    I went there but missed all the cosplaying. On the bright side I picked up cheap goods.

  28. Tsubaki says:

    Stop shooting on auto, lolz.

  29. extremegunner says:

    Crossbone Gundam, Gundam F91, DOM, Zaku, Musha Gundam, Amuro Ray Custom Zeta, God Gundam, RX 78 and ZZ Gundam wow…

    The workmanship for all those Gundam are awesome… I wish I have half of those skills T.T

  30. DarkMirage says:

    It’s not on auto.

  31. info600 says:

    odd…was there ANY Macross stuff there (since there WAS a Bandai section there…)?

    btw, the cosplay photos aren’t that bad.

  32. Rokku says:

    Wait…..
    I dun remember seeing odex there?

  33. fruiteee says:

    hey cool photos man, you should try out for their photography competition
    http://www.sgtoyandcomiccon.com/photography_comp.html

  34. hopefully.. hopefully! we get to see loads of cos players in this coming weekend’s cosfest!!!!!!

    speedlites are expensive. damn. im planning to get 1 too

  35. WinsonKOH says:

    Well don’t forget there’s a booth that sells their VCDs and DVDs boxset for $10-$20, giving away posters for spending $20 and above. Well I guess they stayed low profile for now..

  36. Kyoji says:

    So I guess you want us to ask you this… Why are you giving out business cards? =P

    The restricted area photo links to the wrong picture BTW.

  37. Pingback: Sign of Odex’s Return? « aNiMe LoVe

  38. hi i’m a manga-fan of sakura if you can send me an image or anything please (^^)
    by

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